PLACE - Learning Environment creation tools

8/14/2019 PLACE - Learning Environment creation tools

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Establishing a PLACE for teaching technologies Page iv

TOOLS FORMULTIMEDIA DATA PROCESSING 10Tools for Processing Video and Digital Sound 10Tools for Sharing digital products on Internet 11Tools for threading voice comments on digital objects 13Tools for Building web pages 13

TOOLS FOR TIME AND ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT 14L for Learning Environments 15

CONSTRUCTION OF CONCEPTUAL AND MIND MAPS 15CONSTRUCTION OF CAUSE-EFFECT MAPS 17MATHEMATIC MODELS:CONSTRUCTION AND EXPLORATION 17SIMULATIONS AND GAMES: CONSTRUCTION AND EXPLORATION 18LECTURE NOTES AND FLASH CARDS: BUILDING AND USE 18CREATION OF DIGITAL PORTFOLIOS 19CREATION AND USE OF RUBRICS 19

A for Access to cultural, and intellectual capital 21SEARCH ENGINES AND DIGITALTAGGING 22ELECTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIAS 23SUBSCRIPTION TO ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICES 24

List Serves 24RSS Channels 25

DICTIONARIES,TRANSLATORS ANDTHESAURUSES 25EDUCATIONAL PORTALS 26DIGITALTOURS THROUGH MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS 28

C for Communication 31TOOLS FORINTERACTINGASYNCHRONOUSLY 31

Email (electronic mail) 32Text messaging and chat rooms 33Social messaging via Twitter 33Social/virtual networking in education 34Digital Diaries, also called, Blogs 35The Wiki and collaborative knowledge building 36Collaborative productivity tools 38 Network Forums Video lecture capturing 39

TOOLS FORSYNCHRONOUS INTERACTION 40Chat rooms 41 Multimedia Instant Messaging Systems 41Video Conferencing Systems 42

PLACE - L-TOOLS GALVIS 2009


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Establishing a PLACE for teaching technologies Page 15

Lfor Learning Environments

Instructors willing to give their students the opportunity to activelyparticipate in knowledge building may decide to use digital tools thatallow creation or manipulation of learning environments. When thesegoods have been created by the students it is possible they may haveinternalized the rules that underlie the product; when they have beencreated by the teachers, the goods become learning objects. Tools thatallow teachers or students create learning environments, and that werecreated with an educational purpose, are included under L-Type category.

Construction of Conceptual and Mind Maps

Conceptual and mind maps are a way of visually expressing relationshipsthat underlie a study object. They are especially useful when the studentcreates the map as long as he appropriates a method for expressing hisunderstanding of what has been studied. Concept and mind maps canalso be used by the teacher to create visual navigation systems throughconcepts and their relationships which can be used as support for thelearning process.



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Construction of Cause-Effect Maps

Cause and effect maps help students to understand information that iscombined to solve a problem. Factors associated with a problem can beorganized and understood as they interact in a cause and effectrelationship. This software supports cycles of investigation that giveorder to what students know; the knowledge is organized in a map.

A review by Eduteka (2002) related to visual tools that support

learning says that SEEING REASON [39], a program developed byIntel and distributed for free, is designed to create cause and effectmaps. SEEING REASON generates a work area in the Internetbrowser that can be utilized by the student for investigating andunderstanding complex systems. It is not necessary to downloadany software or install anything in the computer. In the areaTeacher Workspace the instructor registers, creates a folder foreach project and creates one or more groups of students to whomhe assigns a key. Each group registers in the Student Login areaand gives the names of the project and the group. A white workarea appears where the groups can create project components suchas cause and effect relationships that exist.

Mathematic Models: Construction and Exploration

Physical phenomenon can be expressed in multiple forms like equations,tables, graphics and animations that respond to underlying logic. Withthis idea in mind, applications have been constructed that allow studentsand secondary and university teachers to utilize mathematics to create orto explore interactive models.

MODELLUS [40] is a tool that allows making multiple representations

(tables, equations, graphics, animations) of studied phenomenon,with manipulation of variables in concrete or abstract forms. It isdistributed almost for free (it costs $5 to receive the book and CD inthe mail). It is supported in several languages through whichexamples can be analyzed and information can be gatheredconcerning the function of the system. Modellus can be learnedexperientially and through inquiry; online help is also available. Onecan join the community of virtual Modellus users in Yahoo Groups in

39 http://www97.intel.com/en/ThinkingTools/SeeingReason/40 http://phoenix.sce.fct.unl.pt/modellus/index.php



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order to share experiences and to search for solutions to problems

that surface when using the system.

Simulations and Games: Construction and Exploration

Games and simulators can be powerful environments for exploration.Their construction, however, can become a challenge that demands a

very good understanding of the environments that are being modeled,the rules that govern their function, the intervening variables and theresults. Creating games and simulators from scratch can beoverwhelming, but with the right tools it is an enjoyable activity for thosewith such an interest.

AGENTSHEETS [41] is a multiplatform authoring tool forcomputational models that simulate the diverse natural systems(physics, social, etc.). Agentsheets uses visual object behavioralprogramming (agents) which simplifies the work of modeling,

testing, adjusting and utilizing existing simulators. It has beentested successfully in the construction of social and natural science

simulations at all educational levels. It is possible to install a testversion for ten days and educate yourself in its use by utilizing anyof the online help systems from the web site (manuals, videotutorials, frequently asked questions, simulation books).

Lecture notes and flash cards: Building and Use

Students are not always good at taking notes, learning vocabulary andconcepts. As educators we can support this process with technology,either by giving them access to existing resources, and/or creating themeans for collaborative creation.

Tool such as QUIZLET [42] allow students to create their own flashcards, share them with classmates or with open groups, to practicevia different type of exercises, to get feedback based on

performance and answer speed. There is a huge collection of flashcards available, organized by topics and number of flash cards.Quizlet use is free.

41 http://www.agentsheets.com/42 http://quizlet.com/



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A similar free tool is STUDYBLUE [43]. In addition to create andshare flash cards it allows the learner to collaboratively take notesusing wiki tools. StudyBlue automatically derives flash cards fromnotes. There is also a large collection of resources organized bytopics and educational levels.

Creation of Digital Portfolios

The development of digital portfolios allows the documentation ofprocesses and associated outcomes as evidence of personal orprofessional growth. The following set of resources effectively supportsthe construction of multimedia-based digital portfolios.

Open access applications such as EFOLIO [44], EPORTFOLIO [45] orZPORTFOLIO [46] make it possible for students and teachers todigitally record and present evidence in an integrated form of theprocesses and products that comprise their work in learning andteaching.

Sometimes is worth creating multimedia documents that includereflections and textual annotations about video episodes. This can bedone with free tools such as VIDEO PAPER BUILDER 3 [47]. Thissoftware has a dual format in PC and OS; it is a valuable aid to those

who desire to make videocases (cases that focus on the analysis ofvideo episodes) or videopapers (writings that reflect on videoepisodes).

Creation and use of rubrics

Open ended assignments (e.g., projects) as well as authentic(performance-based) assessments (Wiggins, 1990) need well defined

criteria for the student to be able to self-assess processes and productsand for faculty to be able to give feedback with the same lenses to allstudents. Rubrics serve this purpose.

43 http://www.studyblue.com44 http://www.efoliominnesota.com/45 http://www.eportfolio.org/46 http://www.zunal.com/portfolio.php47 http://vpb.concord.org



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There are many rubric development sites available. RUBRICS FORASSESSMENT [48], RUBRICS FOR TEACHER [49] include collectionsof rubrics in different domains that may help educators understandthe logic of building rubrics and select and use those that fit theirneeds.

There are also free tools available, such as RUBISTAR [50], a tool tohelp teachers create quality rubrics and IRUBRIC [51] from

RCampus, which supports creation of rubrics and hosts them online.Rubrics created with iRubrics can be used as a stand- alone or aspart of RCampus interactive learning resources, where results fromapplying the rubric are kept in a grading system.

48 http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/rubrics.shtml49 http://www.rubrics4teachers.com/50 http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php51 http://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm


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